In 2013, Chipotle made headlines for becoming the first national restaurant chain to voluntarily disclose the presence of GMOs in our food. In 2015, we succeeded in our quest to switch to serving food made only with non-GMO ingredients.

Chairman of the Board, Co-Chief Executive Officer: Steve Ells Mr. Steve Ells is Chairman of the Board, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. Mr. Ells founded Chipotle in 1993. Prior to launching Chipotle, Mr. Ells worked for two years at Stars restaurant in San Francisco. Mr. Ells’s vision—that food served fast doesn’t have to be low quality and that delicious food doesn’t have to be expensive—is the foundation on which Chipotle is based. This visionary thinking has led to Chipotle accomplishing great things, such as growing from a single restaurant to over 1,400 in just 20 years, and serving more naturally-raised meat than any other restaurant company. Mr. Ells graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history, and is also a 1990 Culinary Institute of America graduate.

Co-Chief Executive Officer, Director: Montgomery F. Moran Mr. Montgomery F. Moran is Co-Chief Executive Officer, Director of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. Mr. Moran previously served as chief executive officer of the Denver law firm Messner & Reeves, LLC, where he was employed since 1996, and as general counsel of Chipotle. His experience as general counsel from the time the company had only a few restaurants through growth to several hundred restaurants at the time he joined the company, has given him knowledge and understanding of every aspect of the business. His legal experience ran from trial and employment matters to real estate and other transactional matters, as well as general corporate counseling. As a result he has an skill set in such areas as risk management and crisis handling, and also is thoroughly familiar with management personnel throughout the organization. Mr. Moran holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from the University of Colorado and a J.D., cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law.

Chief Financial Officer: Hartung, John Mr. John R. Hartung is Chief Financial Officer of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., since 2002. In addition to having responsibility for all of financial and reporting functions, Mr. Hartung also oversees IT; safety, security and risk; and compensation and benefits. Mr. Hartung joined Chipotle after spending 18 years at McDonald’s where he held a variety of management positions, most recently as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of its Partner Brands Group. Mr. Hartung has a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and economics as well as an MBA from Illinois State University.

Company's Description

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. develops and operates fast casual, fresh Mexican food restaurants in 21 states throughout the United States and in the District of Columbia. Chipotle became a subsidiary of McDonald's in September 1999-2006 when McDonald's acquired a controlling stake in the Company at the same time that the Company's predecessor, World Foods, Inc., a Colorado corporation formed in 1996, merged with Chipotle. Chipotle, a corporation formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on January 30, 1998, was the surviving entity in the merger.

The Chipotle's philosophy is simple: demonstrate that food served fast doesn't have to be a fast-food experience. Chipotle tries to avoid using a formulaic approach when creating its experience and looked to fine-dining restaurants for inspiration. The Company uses high-quality raw ingredients, classic cooking methods and a distinctive interior design, and has friendly people to take care of each customer-features that are more frequently found in the world of fine dining. Chipotle competes in a category of dining now called fast-casual, the fastest growing segment of the restaurant industry, where customers expect food quality that's more in line with full-service restaurants, coupled with the speed and convenience of fast food.

Chipotle uses an integrated information system to manage the flow of information within each restaurant and between the restaurants and the corporate office. This system includes a point-of-sales local area network that helps facilitate the operations of the restaurant by recording sales transactions and printing orders in the appropriate locations within the restaurant. Additionally, the point-of-sales system is used to authorize, batch and transmit credit card transactions, to record employee time clock information, and to produce a variety of management reports. Select information that is captured from this system is transmitted to the corporate office on a daily basis, which enables management to continually monitor operating results.

As of Mar 2014, the company operated 2,000 restaurants, with, ~37,310+ employees, including Chipotle restaurants through the United States, as well as five in Canada, five in London, England, and one in Paris, France, and also one ShopHouse Southease Asian Kitchen, a restaurant in Washington D.C. The Company had 258 free-standing units, 861 end-cap locations, 233 in-line locations and 58 others. The average restaurant size is about 2,535 square ft and seats about 56 people. Most includes patio. Chipotle is on target to be reaching 2,500 restaurants by 2015.